Jul. 23, 2013

Tigers pitcher Joaquin Benoit / JULIAN H. GONZALEZ/DFP

Written by

Jamie Samuelsen

Detroit Free Press Special Writer

Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the “Jamie and Wojo” show at 6 p.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter @jamiesamuelsen and read more of his opinions at freep.com/jamie.

Which Detroit Tiger has done the most for this team while receiving the least attention?

The questions have been asked so many times that we’re all tired of hearing them.

What’s wrong with Justin Verlander? How good is Miguel Cabrera? When will Victor Martinez finally heat up? When will Jim Leyland give up on Alex Avila? (The answers by the way – not sure on Verlander, Cabrera is unbelievably good, Martinez is heating up and I haven’t the faintest idea about Avila.)

When a team puts together the fifth-biggest payroll in baseball and refuses to run a way with a mediocre division, it’s totally understandable that fans grumble a bit. Nobody’s looking to trade anybody. They’re just looking for a little more consistency. Leyland is probably looking for the same.

But despite all the good (Cabrera, Max Scherzer, Torii Hunter) and the bad (Jose Valverde, Phil Coke, Avila), there is a decent middle ground on this team. So for one little blog entry, let’s do away with the hand-wringing as well as the cheerleading. Let’s take stock of three Tigers who have, for the most part, been able to slide under the radar.

3. Omar Infante

Has any player on this team (other than Cabrera, of course) done exactly what is asked of him on an everyday basis as well as Infante? He’s second among the regulars with a .309 average. He has struck out just 31 times in 291 at-bats. In the field, he’s been much better than he was when he first arrived last year – committing just 4 errors during the first half of the year. His absence since going down with the ankle injury earlier this month has been notable. It’s just ironic that last season, this position was a revolving door before the trade with Miami. Now Infante is a stalwart at second.

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2. Drew Smyly
Stop to think exactly where this team would be if Smyly hadn’t emerged as one of the best left-handed relievers in all of baseball. (Yes. Read that sentence again and tell me what’s not true about it.) In his last 11 outings, he’s allowed no walks, no runs and no extra-base hits. Is there anything else you can ask for coming out of the bullpen?

He was at least an intriguing idea for a closer during the Valverde mess, but Leyland made the correct choice in going with Joaquin Benoit. Opposing hitters are hitting just .195 against Smyly and his WHIP is 0.95. His presence in this pen reminds me a little of the role Tim Lincecum played for the Giants last year. Sure, he’s become a late-inning set-up guy. But he also could be a hybrid long-relief man if the situation called for it. In short, he may be the most valuable pitcher on the roster who doesn’t happen to start.

1. Joaquin Benoit

All right. Perhaps it’s not fair to call Benoit under-appreciated. But I sure feel like he’s taken for granted sometimes. Forget the fact that he’s converted all nine save opportunities so far. Forget the fact that he’s made it very easy for Dave Dombrowski to shop for relief pitchers leading up to the trade deadline as opposed to just throwing the farm at the Phillies for Jonathan Papelbon.

Sit back and take stock of what Benoit has done in his 2 1/2 years as a Tiger. His ERA is 2.94. He has struck out 197 in 171 1/3 innings pitched. And he’s been as durable as any manager could hope his set-up man to be. And yet still some have doubts about him. There are some MLB rumor sites that have the Tigers chasing the Padres’ Huston Street or the Brewers’ Francisco Rodriguez. If true, I hope that’s simply to serve as Benoit’s set-up man because he’s earned the job as closer. Basically, any cynicism towards Benoit boils down to two bad months last summer. He pitched well enough in the first half of 2012 to merit All-Star consideration. He blew up in July and August allowing 10 home runs and posting a second half ERA of 5.52. But he righted himself for the postseason and has been a savior this year as both a set-up man and a closer. There are some things to worry about this season for the Tigers, but closer is not one of them as long as Benoit has the job.

The Lions don’t start training camp until later this week. College football is a month away. So basically the Tigers are the only show in town leading to our fascination, obsession and frustration. There is no doubt who the MVP is. And there’s no doubt who the best pitcher has been. But there’s also little doubt that these three players have been invaluable to a first place team. And while they’ve received attention or praise for what they’ve done to this point – perhaps they haven’t received quite enough.